Color-screen protection and support



Ema 25 1923.

J. c. HERRON COLOR SCREEN PROTECTION AND SUPPORT Filed Dec. 7. 1921 Patented Dec. 25, Id.

RENEWED STATES were PATENT @FFHQE.

JAMES C. HERRON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 REFLECTOR & ILLUMINATING (10., CI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COLOR-SCREEN PROTECTION AND S'C'PPORT.

Application filed December 7, 1921. Serial No. 520,462.

To all whom it may concern. 7

Be it known that I, JAMES C. Harmon, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of cook a'ndSt ate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Color-Screen Protection and Support; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention relates to lighting equipment and more particularly to means for varying the effective color of the light pro-' jected by reflectors used in connection with the lamps.

In stage lighting, it is quite customary to secure at least a portion of the desired illumination by means of socalled border lights suspended in the wings of the stage, and it is highly desirable that the light from the border lamps should be varied in color according to the requirements of the scene. Border light arrangements of the trough type have heretofore been employed for this purpose with color screens laid across the mouth of the entire trough, but have proven objectionable both on account of the difiiculty of handling such large color screens and on account of the likelihood of accidents from their breakage. Moreover, the trou h arrangement has not proven as. efficient in projecting the light as the use of suitably shaped individual reflectors over the various lamps and in-the interests of cfiiciency it is highly desirablethat the more efficient plan of using individual reflectors over the lamps should be employed even when the light is to be colored.

' In one of its objects, my invention aims to provide simple and effective means for so porting color-screens in connection with ie ectors for this purpose, and aims to arrange such supporting means so that the color-screens can easil and quickly be removed or replaced. t also aims to provide simple and efi'ective means for reventing accidents by guarding against t e dropping of any portion of the color-screen in case the latter should be cracked by the heat of the lamp. Moreover, my invention aims to provide such color-screen supporting and protecting means in a form which can readily be employed in connection with an ordinary socket and reflector without requiring an changes in either the reflector or the soc et proper, and aims to include resilient or yielding members in the supporting arrangement so as to compensate for any irregularities in the size of the reflector and socket arrangement or in the thickness of the color screen. Furthermore, it aims to provide an arrangement for this purpose in which the color screen can be removed and replaced without detaching any part of the holder from the lighting equipment, but in which certain portions of the holder can also be easily and quickly detached whenever this should seem desirable. It also aims to provide guard means for preventing a dropping wing or fiy from catching on the "color-screen holder, and desirably aims to arrange art of the supports for the holder so that t ey will act as such a guard. Still further and also more detailed-objects will appear from the following specification and from, the accompanying drawings, which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a portion of a border lighting unit comprising a conduit carrying a variety of sockets each equipped with an angle reflector and with a color-screen holding and projecting appliance embodyin my invention and ineluding four yielding links.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the same taken along the correspondingly numbered line of Fig. 1, a part of the holder being broken away to show the position of the color screen and of the transparent safety guard below this screen.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to the lower portion of Fig. 2, but showing the holder partly detached from the supporting links to permit the color screen to be removed or inserted.

Fig. 4: is an elevation showing another embodiment of my invention, namely one in which two links support the holder and are secured by a clamp to the neck of the reflector.

Fig. 5 is a fragmenta section of a holder, showing a gelatin co or screen interposed between a wire-glass guard plate and an upper clear glass plate. 0

In the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2 and 8, I

am showing my invention as employed in.

connection with a row of sockets 1 bolted to a metal conduit 2 which houses the. wiring and supports the sockets. Each of the sockets 1 carries a reflector 3, the reflectorbeing here shown as of a socalled angle .type, although I do not wish to be limited to the shapes or types of sockets and reflectors here shown. Each of these reflectors houses a lamp 4 supported by the corresponding socket and has a flarin ward. isposed across this mouth is a color screen 5, here shown in the form of a glass plate.- This color screen is supported by an annular ring forming part of the holder arrangement of my invention, and this ring desirably comprises a substantially cylindrical collar portion 6 and an inwardly directed flange 7. The cylindrical or lateral portion 6 of the holder ring is desirably of a size freely fittting over the mouth of the reflector and extending slightly upward alongside the reflector beyond this mouth so as to guard against the movement of the holder ring transversely of the said mouth. The inwardly directed flange 7 under-hangs the periphery of the color screen 5, but desirably is not in direct contact with the latter. Instead. I preferably interpose a translucent guard member 8 consisting of clear wire-glass, or glass having a wire mesh embedded therein so as to reinforce the glass against breakage and so as to hold the parts thereof even if breakage should occur.

To support this holder ring and to hold the plates or disks 5 or 8 in their normal 'positions, I desirably employ supporting means connected to some portion of the lighting equipment above the main portion of the reflector and desirably arrange these means so as to afford a yielding support. For this purpose I am here showing the socket 1 as fastened to the conduit 2 by eyebolts 9 extending through the bottom of the conduit and through the flanged base of the socket shell. The eye of each such eyebolt or screw-eye is engaged by two hooks, each ofwhich is at the end of a link portion 10 connected by a spiral spring 11 to a second link portion 12 engaging some part of the holder ring. For this latter purpose, two of the links (namely the ones at the rear of Fig. 1) desirably terminate in hooks arranged as shown at 12 and snapped through openings 13 in the lateral wall 6 of the holder ring, while the other two lower link members 12 are connected by a bight engaging a hook 6 on the front of the holder ring. With this arrangement of the yielding links, the hook 6 and the holder perforations engaged by the two rear links are desirably spaced substantially 120 degrees apart along the periphery of the holder ring to equalize the strains. Thus arranged, the springs 11 afford a yielding tension, so that the holder mouth opening obliquely down-.

emma ring together with the two glass plates supported by it is normally held yieldingly in.

its operative position by the four yielding links, namely in position in which the two glass plates are disposed in the path of the light projected by the reflector. Then-the adjustment automatically afforded by the springs compensates for any irregularities in the size of the various parts, including variations in the thickness of either the guard plate 8 or of the color screen 5.

Furthermore, by detaching the said bight from the hook 6 on the holder ring, the edge of the holder adjacent to this hook can be caused to gap away from'the mouth of the reflector so as to permit the color screen to be removed or replaced after the manner shown in Fig. 3. My arrangement therefore permits of the speedy inserting, removing or exchanging of the color screens, so that the desired color effects can be varied quickly and without the use of tools. At the same time, the interposing of the guard plate 8 between the color screen 5 and the outside of the lighting unit serves as a protection against accidents, as this wire-glass guard will continue to support the constituent fragments of the color screen even if the latter should be cracked by the heat of the lamp as sometimes happens.

However, I do not wish to be limited to this particular method of manipulating the holder arrangement for the purpose of inserting, removing or'replacing color screens. Neither do it wish to be limited to the particular details of construction or arrangement here disclosed, nor to the use of my invention in connection with sockets bolted to supporting conduits by screw eyes, it being obvious that various modifications might be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims. For example, Fig. 4 shows an embodiment employing only two oppositely disposed yielding links supported by a clamp 13 secured to the neck of the reflector, while Fig. 5 shows a more readily portable sub-- stitute for the glass color screen, namely a sheet 14 of colored gelatin resting upon the wire-glass guard 5 and held fiat by a superposed plate 15 of clear glass.

However, the more simple arrangement shown in Fig. 4 has this disadvantage that a dropping wing or fly may catch on the upper forward edge of the holder ring and hence might damage either the wing or the holder and the plates supported by the latter. I therefore preferably employ at least one link disposed at the front of the reflector where it will act as a fender for guidlng a dropping wing or fly past the collar of the holder ring.

Moreover, 1 do not wish to be limited to the employment of my invention in connection with stage lighting, as it might obamaze viously be used with equal facility for other purposes, such as show-window lighting, show-case lighting or the like.

I claim as my invention i 1. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector housing thesame, a color screen disposed across the mouth of the reflector, a reinforced glass plate disposed outwardly of the screen, and an annular holder having a portion overlapping the outer face of the glass plate and having another portion housmg the peripheries of the said screen, plate and reflector'mouth.

2. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector housing the same, a color screen disposed across the mouth of the reflector, a reinforced glass plate disposedoutwardly of the screen; an annular holder having a portion overlapping the outer face of the lass plate and having another portion housingthe peripheries of the said screen, plate and reflector mouth; and yielding means holding the holder in its said positlon.

3. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector housing the same, an annular holder having a collar sleeved. over the mouth of the reflector and having a flange extending radially inward of the collar, a transparent reinforcing member resting upon the flange and supported thereby, and a color screen between the lamp and the transparent member and normally clamped against the latter by the collar.

4. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector housing the same, an annular holder having a collar sleeved over the mouth of the reflector and having a flange extending radially inward of the collar, a

transparent reinforcing member resting iipon the flange and supported thereby, and

a color screen disposed between the lamp and the transparent member and normally clamped between the said member and the mouth of the reflector.

5. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector housing the light emitting portion thereof, a support holdin both the lamp and the reflector, an annu ar holder having a peripheral flange laterally overhanging outwardly of-tlie color screen, and connections between the support: and the collar for normally holding the collar in its said posi-- tion and arranged for permitting the collar to be moved out of its said position to allow nthe'replacing of the color screen. 7

6. A lighting unit comprising a lamp, a'

reflector housing the same, a color screen dis- .posed across the mouth of the reflector, a

reinforced glass late disposed outwardly of the'screen, a hol er movable with respect to the reflector and arranged for holding'the screen and plate, and means arranged both for normally retaining the holder in operative position and for )reventing'a descendin" object from catching on the holder.

A li hting unitcomprisin'g a lamp, a reflector housing the same, a color screen disposed across the mouth of the reflector, a reinforced glass plate disposed outwardly of the screen; an annular holder having a portion overlapping the outer face of the glass plate and having another portion housmg the peripheries of the said screen, plate and reflector mouth; and means for holding the holder in its said position and for preventing objects from catching on the free edge of the said peripheral housing portion of the holder.

8. A li hting unit comprising a lamp, a reflector ousing the same, a color screen disposed across the mouth of the reflector, a reinforced glass plate disposed outwardly of the screen; an annular holder having a portion overlapping the outer face of the lass plate and having another portion housmg the peripheries of the said screen, plate and reflector mouth; and'yielding means holding the holder in its said position, the yielding means includin a portion manually detachable from the holder to permitan opening movement of the latter.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, December 2, 1921. 

